Welcome! This chapter walks you through downloading, installing, and activating the AI Blog & WooCommerce Buying Guide Generator plugin on your WordPress website – step by step, in plain language, even if you have never installed a plugin before.
Overview
This plugin writes and publishes blog articles for your WordPress website automatically, using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Instead of you sitting down to write a blog post, you simply give the plugin a list of topics (“keywords”), and it writes complete, ready-to-publish articles for you – on a schedule you control.
It is a normal WordPress plugin, so it installs the same way as any other plugin you may have used before: no special software, no command line, and no separate server to set up. If your site also sells products through WooCommerce, this plugin can optionally connect to it as well, but WooCommerce is not required to use the core blog-writing features.
How It Works
Installing a WordPress plugin is simple: you upload one ZIP file, click a button to turn it on, and WordPress does the rest automatically. There is no server restart, no “developer mode” to enable, and no manual “update app list” step – those steps belong to other kinds of software, not WordPress. The moment you activate this plugin, WordPress silently sets up everything it needs behind the scenes: its own settings, its keyword queue, and a new menu in your dashboard called AI Blog Generator.
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Get the plugin ZIP file
Download the latest ai-blog-woocommerce-buying-guide-generator.zip file from the place you purchased or received it. Save it somewhere easy to find, like your Desktop or Downloads folder. Do not unzip it – WordPress needs the ZIP file as-is.
2. Log in to your WordPress admin area
Open your website’s admin login page – usually your website address followed by /wp-admin – and sign in with an Administrator account. Only Administrator accounts can install plugins.
3. Go to Plugins → Add New
In the left-hand admin menu, click Plugins, then click the Add New Plugin button at the top of the page.
4. Upload the plugin
Click Upload Plugin near the top of the screen, then click Choose File and select the ai-blog-woocommerce-buying-guide-generator.zip file you downloaded. Click Install Now and wait a few seconds while WordPress unpacks it.
5. Activate the plugin
Once the install finishes, click Activate Plugin. If you land on the Installed Plugins list instead, find “AI Blog & WooCommerce Buying Guide Generator” in the list and click Activate underneath its name. Activation happens instantly and your site stays online the whole time.
6. Find the new admin menu
Refresh your browser if needed. Look at the left-hand admin sidebar – you will now see a new menu item called AI Blog Generator with a document icon, sitting near the bottom of the menu list.
7. Open the Dashboard
Click AI Blog Generator to open its Dashboard screen. This is the plugin’s home base – it shows whether the AI is ready, how many topics are waiting to be written about, and gives you a one-click Generate Now button.
8. Check the alert banner
The first time you open the Dashboard, you will likely see a message that says “AI is not configured.” This is expected – you have not added an AI provider yet. The next chapter, Connecting Your AI Writer, shows you exactly how to fix that.
9. If you sell products with WooCommerce
If WooCommerce is already installed and active on your site, you will also see an extra menu item called WooCommerce under AI Blog Generator. This is covered in Turning Products Into Buying Guides. If you do not sell products, you can ignore this – the plugin works perfectly well without WooCommerce.
Fields Table
| Field Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Plugin ZIP file |
The installable package for the plugin, downloaded from your purchase source. |
ai-blog-woocommerce-buying-guide-generator.zip |
Administrator account |
The type of WordPress user login needed to install and activate plugins. |
Username with the “Administrator” role |
AI Blog Generator menu |
The new admin menu group added after activation, containing Dashboard, Keywords, Log, and Settings. |
AI Blog Generator → Dashboard |
WooCommerce submenu |
Extra menu item that only appears when WooCommerce is already installed and active on your site. |
AI Blog Generator → WooCommerce |
“AI is not configured” alert |
A warning shown on the Dashboard until you add an AI provider and API key in Settings. |
Red banner with a “Configure AI” button |
Field Explanations
Plugin ZIP file is simply the packaged version of the plugin. Always upload it exactly as you downloaded it – WordPress automatically unzips and installs it for you, so unzipping it yourself first will cause the upload to fail.
The AI Blog Generator menu is where all of your day-to-day work happens after installation: reviewing your dashboard, managing your keyword queue, checking the log, and changing settings. You will return to this menu in every other chapter of this guide.
The WooCommerce submenu is optional and only appears automatically – you do not need to turn anything on for it to show up, and nothing breaks if you never use it.
Tips
- Keep the plugin ZIP file unextracted when uploading – WordPress unzips it for you automatically.
- Make sure you are logged in as an Administrator before installing; other roles will not see the “Add New Plugin” option.
- After activating, go straight to AI Blog Generator → Settings to add your AI provider before doing anything else – nothing can be generated until that is done.
- Bookmark the AI Blog Generator → Dashboard page – it is the best place to check that everything is running smoothly.
Common Mistakes
- Unzipping the plugin file before uploading it. Upload the original
.zipfile as-is; WordPress extracts it during installation. - Trying to install as a non-Administrator user. Editors, Authors, and Shop Managers cannot install or activate plugins – only Administrators can.
- Expecting articles to appear immediately after activation. The plugin needs an AI provider connected and at least one keyword in the queue before it can write anything – see the next two chapters.
- Assuming WooCommerce is required. WooCommerce is completely optional; the blog-writing features work on any WordPress site.